Teardown

[philvt101]

I've noticed a distinct lack of teardown info/pics on the internet for autosticks.  I had to open mine up to fix second gear (I do this stuff for a living), so I figured I'd document the teardown and share some pictures.

So here's my trans on the bench. ][/img]

Here's the torque converter sitting in the bellhousing. ][/img]

And here's the interior of the bellhousing with the converter removed. ][/img]

Then we stand the trans on the bellhousing (I've got the single remaining upper stud through a hole in the bench so the trans sits flat. And remove the pan to access the differential.
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Here's a closeup of the pinion gear retaining ring.  There used to be a special VW tool for setting this to the proper torque, but nowadays it's just get it as tight as you can with a screwdriver and a hammer.  You'll have to alternate between loosening the retainer and pressing the pinion up and out of the case (After you remove the nosecone and gear housing nuts and washers).

And here's the rear of the trans with the nosecone off, and the nosecone interior.
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Then we press out the gear cluster.  Here's a shot of the inside of the case with the cluster removed.  My park pawl has been previously removed, otherwise it would be sitting loose in there.  You can see the reverse idler in the top left corner.
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And here's the gear cluster. ][/img]

Here's reverse and 1st gear with the synchro and fork in the middle.
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Here's second and third. ][/img]

So after removing the two snap rings and the pinch bolts from the forks you can tap out the two shafts with the forks.
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Here's a shot of the geartrain with the forks removed.  Again, it's reverse and first on the bottom and second and third on the top.
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Here's the mainshaft disassembled. Third gear slides right off, then you remove a snap ring and press off the sychro hub to allow second gear to slide off.  Second gear's on the left.
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And here's my problem.  The second gear was just spinning inside the sychro gear.  I'm going to take the gear to a guy I know at the local machine shop and see if we can't permanently reattach these pieces.
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I've got a few more pics, but that's the important stuff.  As far as I know pictures of the interior of an autostick don't exist anywhere else on the internet.  So I hope everyone who needs 'em enjoys these pics.  If anyone has any questions feel free to contact me at philvt101@yahoo.com

[Raymond73]

Talk about a work of art. It's amazing how much engineering gets packed into such a small place. Thanks for taking to time to document your work.

[autonewbie]

I have to say just looking at these pics gives me the shakes. I would be hospitalized if someone told me I had to take my autostick trans apart.
I am thankful that these pictures have been posted. There just is not enough good clear data available for these autosticks.
Thanks for taking the time to photograph and post these pictures.

Now that I have buttered you up, please send me your phone number so I know who to call when my trans breaks. 

[philvt101]

To be honest the inside of the autostick is pretty much the same as every other manual trans I've ever overhauled.  The major difference with these transmissions is how the converter drives the clutch which in turn drives the mainshaft.  I don't know if anyone here might be familiar with the Hondamatic that was used in the little aircooled 600 coupes, but it operates on a very similar principle.  But Honda took it one step further, instead of using manually shifted forks, clutch packs were hydraulically actuated to engage the synchros.  I'm always amazed at the level of engineering ingenuity in older vehicles that is just now being recycled.  The Smart ForTwo coupe is using almost identical technology as our old autosticks with added computer control.
One other note, the case of the autostick is incredibly beefy compared to modern manual transmissions.  In fact, I'm not sure if the trans or the engine is heavier!

[68autobug]

Hi Phil
All the manuals I have 10+ all say Don't touch the transmission,,, as You need special tools to repair it..
although they show and describe the breakdown they say to USE SPECIAL Tool number VW 1110 etc..
which normal people don't have...  but many VW gearbox specialists do have.. [every VW dealer had to have all the special tools]
I have read where the autostick was designed for Porsche as they needed a clutch pedal less car to sell in the US.
Not really an auto but enough to sell as an automatic...  called a semi auto in Australia..
I really don't know of anyone who has pulled the gearbox apart to take gears out etc.. or replace bearings.
its usually left to experts or VW repair people who have experience with their manual gearboxes/transaxles.
Yours is a very late model having a park feature.. never ever seen one, but I only know of one in Australia.. [early 1968-late 1974]
I have had the clutch etc apart as have others that replaced the clutch plate etc..
but I stop at the thought of pulling the actually gears out...lol
I helped My Son recently put a late motorcycle gearbox/clutch  together but I wouldn't even think about taking the gearbox apart..lol
all those gears and shafts..lol  I suppose they only fit back ONE way...   but that is why I have two spare gearboxes..lol

Great pics PHIL... I always find it hard to remember to take pics when things are dirty or greasy..
dirty and greasy don't seem to go with picking up a camera..lol  so I clean and paint everything  before I take pics.

the gear You show and the part that has come apart... how was it attached before???  interference fit with a lot of tons??

cheers

LEE

[philvt101]

Yes, the gear and synchro hub are supposed to be pressed together, interference fit.  The two pieces were actually still together when I disassembled, but you could spin the gear around inside the hub.  So when you shifted into second you basically had neutral.  I have overhauled more transmissions (manual and automatic) than I can remember and this is the only one where I have seen the gear and synchro gear to be two pieces pressed together instead of one solid piece.  Considering how tough VW made everything else I found it quite surprising.  But I guess this particular failure is not overly common, as this is the first occurrence I have ever seen.

As far as special tools for overhauling, besides the tool for torquing the pinion retainer there's really nothing to it.  You'll need a press and bearing splitter to actually take the gears off of the shafts, but that's normal for any manual trans.  Like I said you can get by with a hammer and a punch or suitable screwdriver to torque the pinion retainer as you're not actually setting preload, that is accomplished by shims under the pinion head.  So as long as you get that sucker as tight as you can, and then tighten it some more, and double check your backlash (I have no idea what the spec is, but from experience .005"-.008" is usually good) you should be ok.

Honestly the trickiest thing to reassembling this trans in my opinion is getting the park pawl back in properly.

[68autobug]

Hi Phil

well that may be because that was a very late edition to the gearbox..
I wonder whether Porsche ever had the park feature in their gearboxes??
Now I realise that its not too difficult to pull apart and reassemble them...
but the books quote all these special tools.. lol

cheers

LEE


cheers

LEE

[philvt101]

Yeah, mine's out of 74 standard Beetle.  I believe 75 was the last year of the autostick.  Autosticks are rare, and autosticks with park are even rarer (endangered species maybe?).

[68autobug]

those buttons with AIR on them I've never seen either
Our heater controls never had anything on them either
no red or yellow knobs only black round knobs..
Your car regulations made the USA beetles slightly different.. lol
just looking up when they finished was 1976.. that is cars made between 1st august 1975 and 31st july 1976..
which was the VW model YEAR for 1976..  No one can find any numbers for the autosticks.. how many in each year.??
that isn't to say that only a few were made.. in 1976..  as I haven't heard of any 1976 autosticks in Australia..
most were 1968-69-70-71

cheers

Lee

[philvt101]

Those are the fresh air knobs.  You turn the one on the left to allow or block fresh air ventilation to the windshield and the one on the right controls ventilation out of the dash vents. 
I assume Aussie's have the same heater controls in the floor:


The lever on the right opens and closes the flaps on the heater boxes and the one on the left switches the airflow from the floor to defrost.

[68autobug]

Those are the fresh air knobs.  You turn the one on the left to allow or block fresh air ventilation to the windshield and the one on the right controls ventilation out of the dash vents. 
I assume Aussie's have the same heater controls in the floor:


The lever on the right opens and closes the flaps on the heater boxes and the one on the left switches the airflow from the floor to defrost.

No  We all had black knobs on the heaters .. both of them
and just arrows on the fresh air knobs...

I know what they do as I had a superbug in 1971  and a type 3 variant in the 70s..
they all had the black knobs and just arrows on the knobs..

no writing in English on Our cars.. lol

cheers

LEE  in Australia

[philvt101]

All fixed and on the road.



Dave from Accubilt did a great job on the gear and I took care of the rest.  I wish I could afford to get a job just fixing Beetles all day

[68autobug]

Yeah, mine's out of 74 standard Beetle.  I believe 75 was the last year of the autostick.  Autosticks are rare, and autosticks with park are even rarer (endangered species maybe?).

Hi
Yes, only know of one car in Australia with Park feature...
and first time I've seen the ashtray with the park feature on it..
I'm going to keep a lookout for some fresh air vents with writing on them...lol
Our emergency flasher knobs had 88 written on them...
What 88 means I don't know... I think its emergency 88...  lol

LEE

[joeypaul]

Hi Philvt

I have looked at your teardown information posted in 2012.  I am in the process of tearing down my 1968 beetle transaxle to replace the mainshaft ball bearing housed in the gear carrier case.  Question:  All the other information I read says you should only need to remove the C-clip from the main shaft when removing the gear clusters from the gear carrier case, leaving the C-clip on the pinion shaft.  They say when you press/tap out the mainshaft, the pinion shaft will slide out too, with that C-clip still in place.  Is that true?  I would prefer to leave that pinion C-clip in place as I am concerned about that wound spring on the pinion shaft.

Any comments would be appreciated.

thanks

[philvt101]

It's been about 6 years since I tore my trans down, but after reviewing my photos and jogging my memory, I would say you will have to remove the c-clips from the mainshaft and the pinion shaft to tap the shafts out of the bearings in the housing.  You'll also need to remove the bolts that hold the shift forks to the shift rails so you can slide the gearshafts and the forks out as an assembly.  (This is normal for manual trans work, in fact usually there is a specific jig/stand for each transmission that you would set the ends of the shafts into and lift the case off leaving the whole geartrain/shaft assembly sitting on the stand).

You shouldn't have to worry about the spring on the pinion shaft, I'm pretty sure there is another snap ring or some type of retainer (possibly press fit) that keeps that gear assembly with the spring on the shaft.  You can see from the teardown photos there is a shot of both shafts lying on the bench with both snap rings removed from the ends and all of the gears are staying on the shafts quite happily.